I had a debate with a friend of mine about heat shields around the cone filter(like the Swift intake aluminum wall type). I'm in favor of filter heat shields. What are your opinions?

Does anybody have any mag articles about heat shields?

To settle this debate. (He says THEY ARE A WATSE OF $$$ and nothing but hype!!! He also says, all the hot air from the engine will flow under and out the hood at the cowl... and it's not enough heat left to make a hp/cold air difference on the road because all of the air flowing from outside...)

The Ikon

the colder the air the stronger the combustion=more HP. It may not be a big increase but it's a good and relatively cheap mod. Ofcorse it also depends on the box, if it's built right it you should have some minor increase in power. Being a waste of money??? Well that just depends on how much you spent, I would rather make mine and not spend money on it.. IMO

Scot

ps....dont believe everything you hear!

:cool: I installed a heat sheild that I fabricated. I will post some pictures. I believe it does make a differance over not using one. I posted a question " whats the differance" and did not get one reply, but had alot of veiws. That tells me that know one thinks it makes that much of a differance? I love the sound it makes when at idle. When taking off the exhaust seems to have a deeper tone. Permormance!! Maybe a little more in the mid range. May be a 5 to 10 horse gain. Good mood for the cost. I ran two weeks with out the sheild to see how it ran, and since then have had the sheild on at all times.:D

big difference
 

well if u have a sc300, and a aftemarket filter. the heat sheild should make alot of difference. the fan blowws all of the hot air from the motor right into it. i also made a custum shield for the side. and now im making one for the top to make it like a cold air box, also u dont realize it but when it rains some watelr seeps in the cracks of the hood and it goes right to the intake filter so the top cver helps to prevent that as well. im also gonna run some ducting from the front to the hole just underneath the light to direct more air to it. ill post the pics when i get it all done, im havin to rebuild my head right now, b/c i bent some valves, i m going all out. stainless steel and titanium, double springs, 5 angle port and polish. and i also got some eletric fans so there wont be so much hot air blowing diectly at the heat sheilds. ya got to give me like 2 weeks to get he pis thats when i get the car back
Jc

quote
 

heatshield!

yes i do not notice much power with the heat shield. i made one with aliumiunim and that thing gets so hot that when i am driving that i believe if the cold touches it, the cold air that comes in will turn into warm air.

edogg

quote
 

From what i understand, the heat shield keeps the air somewhat cool until it hits the aluminum piping where it heats up

goral19

hmmmmmmmm
 

So in theory if it's(the aluminum heat shield) getting hot. That would only conclude that it's "shielding" the heat off the engine.

I assume that's a good thing. I made one today and I made a "ram air" type air scoop behind my passenger side air duct in the front end. That blow's cold"out side" air directly into the filter area only..

Professional quote
 

I can understand the hot air flowing through at high speeds, however the air will flow through the hot radiator and in the process heat up. Ask your friend what happens when you are standing at a stop light and there is no air flowing, you punch on the pedal and you feel a bog down, it is because the engine just sucked in large amounts of "hot" air. We have done tests and the difference in temp for the intake with and withour the heatshield is about 65F.


__________________
Muhammad I. Choudhury
C.E.O./C.O.O.
Swift Racing Technologies
www.swiftracing.com
(301) 384-7319 - Sales

heat shield & ram air
 

Today I removed the plastic air dam below the headlight - 3 10 mm bolts. It was a bear to wrestle out but worth it. This was pulling air from behind the headlight into the airbox (I already pulled the airbox and replaced with cone filter)

In the front bumper under the light I then installed a galvanized (painted flat black) 6" to 4" reducer which is attached to aluminum dryer hose. This hose is routed to right in front of the cone filter.

I have had an aluminum heat shield which rises almost to the padding on the hood and runs the entire length - see my prior posts.

Anyway, a major noticiable difference is now realized when moving even a few MPH!! Ill post pics later, but you gotta do this!:D

933005sp,

I did this mod too on my SC4. I used a dryer hose too(aluminum / metal type). I need to post me pics/instructions as well. The entire set up was acomplished for $8.00.:D

Honestly, you can tell the difference vs just the cone filter alone. It also sounds aggressive under WOT, due to the resonance of the heat shield.

I had this same debate with my roomate. He said it doesnt do anything and said I should try it without it. I dont think it does much but maybe a little? I dont really care that much about it right now on my car though because I will have a supercharger in the next month or so.

heatshield!
 

yes ikon, the shield gets hot by blocking hot air, but in my opinion if the aluminium wall is to close to the filter, the wall gets hot and once the cold air drafts in, touches the very hot wall, thus making the cold air into warm air, but that is my opinion.

But would not that means it is doing its job? If you use that ram air set up htat Ikon and 93300 are using that means a steady supply of cool air from the out side. I'd rather block some heat than suck in more heat.

Plus the experts at swift racing said it can only help. they have dyno tested their products and road tested them too, and 65 deg. makes a big difference. Plus if you throw in the ram air type unit supplying constant cool air decreasing the temp. then I say it's worth it.

Ikon, 93300 post the photos of yous shield and directions. Listen to Muhammad. I do.

I would think that a heat shield made out of plastic or fiberglass would be better. That is why some friends of mine use the airbox with high flow filters. Makes sense. Kind of like the way the new S2000 has it.

Mind

I believe this modification should be saved for a heavily modified engine. The gain recognized by a stock engine would be marginal at best. On the other hand any engine will benefit from cooler/thicker air. If you are expecting a significant difference you would be dissappointed.